Following the delays at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday, the Airports Authority Workers’ Committee released an overview on Saturday evening of the staffing shortage within the authority. According to figures presented by the committee, the authority is currently short approximately 400–500 employees.
The figures are based, according to the committee, on requests from division managers for additional staff—requests that management is aware of and about which the workers’ organization has been warning for many months. “The fact that we have entered the busy summer months with such a severe shortage is the result of ongoing inaction,” the committee said.
The committee notes that, in addition to the unfilled positions, more than 100 Israel Airports Authority employees are currently absent from the workforce due to reserve duty. Dozens more are absent due to prolonged illnesses, injuries and workplace accidents, some of which, the committee says, are linked to the difficult working conditions and heavy workloads during the summer months. This has created a severe and acute staffing shortage, directly affecting the ability to provide services to passengers.
Frontline service employees at the Israel Airports Authority, who are responsible for the airport’s regular day-to-day operations, work between 220 and 260 hours per month, often in the heat, performing physically demanding work and without breaks.
According to the figures, the department responsible for unloading wide-body aircraft is operating with a 30% staff shortage. The sorting department is currently short around 100 employees, the transportation department around 80, the operators’ department around 85, the security department between 200 and 300, and the fire department around 18.
“The figures require immediate and urgent in-depth action. Otherwise, it will not be possible to provide passengers with the service they deserve. This warning is being issued once again, after having already been given dozens of times, and just ahead of the expected holiday-period rush,” the workers’ organization said.